Nothing Like the Rain
by PinkFan-Gurl
Summary: Or the one where each of the Host Club boys have their own special way of helping Haruhi through a storm. Update: Tamaki makes sure he's there for Haruhi when no one else can
1. Kyoya

Kyoya

Haruhi could tell that a storm was coming just by the smell of the air. There wasn't any real way to describe it; it just smelled like rain.

But it wasn't like she was afraid of _rain_. How silly would that be? No, it was what accompanied the rain that made her heart rate triple, her eyes dilate, and knees buckle. She often tried telling herself that it was an irrational fear, that the thunder wasn't going to hurt her—heck, she should be more worried about lightning for that, but for some reason she didn't mind the lightning—but there was something about the loud crack in the sky and low rumble that scared her into a trembling mess.

The worst was when she was held up at the store or walking home from school when the thunder started. She was all alone and the only thing that kept her from collapsing of a heart-attack right on the spot was the sound of blood flowing through her ears that seemed to help block out the horrid cracks.

"Haruhi, are you alright?" His voice was muffled.

Haruhi looked up from the pavement. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped moving to clamp her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the inevitable boom of the thunder. She was about to say that she was fine, but suddenly Kyoya was at her side with one hand on her elbow as he pulled her along the sidewalk after him.

"Move along," the tall boy said calmly, never slowing his pace, "and we might be able to make it before the rain starts. I would prefer to avoid getting stuck in a downpour, especially since we just picked up the new cosplays."

Haruhi tried to move faster, but her legs felt heavier than normal. It didn't help that the new costumes in her arms were probably around thirty pounds. She was about to ask for Kyoya to slow down except she heard the first snap of thunder and she poured on the speed.

By this point she was nearly pulling Kyoya down the sidewalk after her when all of a sudden he jerked her by the elbow again. After a squeal of surprise, she found herself being pulled through a door and into a quaint, brick-walled building.

Haruhi barely got out a, "Wha-?" when the rain started coming down in buckets.

A presence beside her made Haruhi glance up to find Kyoya standing silently beside her. He sighed, pushing his glasses further up his nose with his middle finger. "I was afraid this would happen."

Haruhi ran her palm along the clear bag that held the club's cosplays. "What? The rain?"

"Yes. I was hoping to get back to the car before it started raining. It's most unfortunate."

"Couldn't you just call your car to come get us here?" She would have used the one the twins' gave her, but she had left it in her jacket pocket which was back in Kyoya's car.

Kyoya pursed his lips, the beginnings of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "I suppose that isn't a horrible idea, Haruhi, but the problem lies in the fact that I left my phone back at the club."

She blinked, hardly believing her ears. "You forgot it?"

"Not one of my brightest moments."

"But Kyoya-senpai, you're life basically is one big _bright moment._ "

"In my defense, Tamaki and the twins were pestering me about the cosplays all afternoon." He grinned slyly as he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Their reactions were priceless when I asked for you to assist me with picking them up."

"You mean you didn't actually need my help? You brought me along just to get a ruse out of them?"

He grinned devilishly again. "I could have easily sent some of my father's men to pick them up, but I couldn't possibly pass up the chance of riling up Tamaki and the Hitachiins."

Haruhi closed her hanging jaw as she tried to keep herself from feeling offended. It was just like Kyoya to drag her into something completely unnecessary just to screw around with their friends. In fact, it shouldn't even have surprised her at this point.

Turning towards the inside of the building, Kyoya muttered, "Well, we'll be here for at least a little while. Might as well make ourselves as comfortable as we can in a commoner's pace like this." He flashed a faked innocent smile at her. "No offense, of course."

Haruhi shifted the costumes in her arms. "None taken," she mumbled in reply. She was only half joking, but the sarcasm was real.

She tried to get a good look at the little restaurant they were hold up in, but unfortuately, the thunder decided to rage at that point and next thing she knew, she was cowering under the nearest table with her hands clamped over her ears.

When the rumbling passed, she nervously opened her eyes as slight embarrassment started to swell in her chest. The embarrassment was quickly replaced by confusion when she found Kyoya crouching in front of her. "Kyoya-senpai?"

Kyoya rolled his eyes, holding a hand out to her. In the other, he held the costumes she had dropped in her mad dash for cover. "I'm adding this your debt, you know," he said as he hoisted her up. "These costumes aren't cheap and should be handled as such. You're too clumsy."

Haruhi wrinkled her nose, hiding back a smile as she settled into the chair across from her friend. That was another Kyoya-like thing to do—to cover up his caring side with some sort of insult. She knew he hated that she acknowledged it, but every since that day they were at the mall together where he helped that woman, she was unable to unsee his softer side.

Thunder cracked again and Haruhi stiffened and clenched her eyes shut. She was past the stage of embarrassment—she had already hidden under a table in a public setting after all—but she wished that she wasn't so scared of the horrible noise. It was unfair that the shadow king could sit there, stoically reading the café's menu without so much as a flinch.

Her palms were sweaty when she finally unclenched them. A ringing was still present in her ears even though the last round of thunder had passed long enough ago for Kyoya's latte to arrive at their table. She was slightly surprised when another one was set in front of her.

Haruhi was about to tell the waiter that there was a mistake when Kyoya grumbled, "Don't."

"Huh?" she blinked, turning back to him.

Kyoya sighed, looking at his coffee in distaste as he pushed his glasses up. "Not very satisfying in taste, but it should help take your nerves down."

"I don't have money," she whispered, running her finger around the rim of the cup.

Kyoya scowled, but somehow it seemed forced. "I expected as much. I'll just consider this a one time thing."

Haruhi said nothing, instead opting to take a sip of her coffee. It was strong and bitter and it was definitely not the instant stuff that she had grown accustomed too and it definitely wasn't the stuff she had when at the twins' or Tamaki's homes. "It's really bad."

Kyoya smiled. "Good."

There wasn't any more thunder the rest of their stay. They didn't talk a whole lot either, but there was something about their comfortable silence that made Haruhi feel at peace. She didn't spend a lot of time one-on-one with Kyoya so it was nice to hang out with him. Bonus considering he was in a relatively good mood today.

They hadn't been in the car more than thirty seconds when her phone started blaring from her jacket pocket that was crumpled in a ball on the floor. She fumbled with it for a moment. "Hello?" she asked.

" _MY SWEET HARUHI!"_

Haruhi jerked her ear away from the receiver as Kyoya quirked up a brow. "Tamaki-senpai? Why are you calling me?"

" _What do you mean why am I calling? A thunderstorm happened and you were out without me to protect you!"_

Haruhi glanced over at Kyoya. His nose was in a book, though she couldn't tell what it's title was. He was still holding the coffee that he had complained about the entire time they were there. She brought her attention down to her own coffee cup that was snugly tucked between her thighs. And then it suddenly clicked.

"Yeah," she said into the phone, "don't worry. Kyoya was with me."

...

next up will probably be Kaoru


	2. Kaoru

Kaoru

Haruhi pulled the drapes shut.

Grey clouds had been hanging over the city all afternoon, but the darkness that screamed thunderstorm had finally begun to set in. Her father wouldn't be home for several more hours so she set about her normal routine; closing the curtains to help muffle the sound, turning on all of the lights in the living room, and finding her favorite blanket that she uses to curl up in to ride out the storm.

The weatherman had been predicting this storm for days and now it was finally here. She couldn't help but feel kind of glad—at least it would come and go and then she wouldn't have to worry about the pending horrors anymore.

Haruhi flicked on the TV to one of the romantic comedies her father had recorded on the DVR. They weren't necessarily her top choice for entertainment, but they always made her feel calm when he wasn't around, probably because they reminded her of her dad so much.

At a silent part in the movie, Haruhi could make out the faint sound of rain tickling the roof of the apartment. So far so good. She didn't mind the rain. In fact, she welcomed rain. _Peaceful_ rain, that it is.

Ten minutes later and the low rumbling started. She flinched, pulling her blanket closer out of sheer reflex. Another groan from the sky, only this time much louder. Clutching the remote in her hand as she buried her face in her arm, she turned the volume to it's max decibel without it doing damage to the speakers.

Another ten minutes and then the lights flicker precariously. Haruhi sat on her heels, holding her blanket taught around her face as she willed the lights to stay on. It worked for a minute, and then the TV shut off, the lights popped, and the room plunged into utter darkness.

Haruhi whimpered, willing herself to shrink into the couch. Now what was she going to do? The thunder was going to come back with a vengeance and this time she didn't have the TV to drown out her worries. If the power didn't come back on, it was going to be a long night.

She scoffed to herself, considering the thought. It was going to be a long night regardless, but it was going to be a hundred times worse without power.

The rain came down again in buckets, surely drenching anything that the light sprinkle of rain had left dry. With each passing crack of thunder, Haruhi forced her face farther into the cushion of the couch, balling her fists until her nails broke the skin of her palms.

Where was her dad? Why couldn't he be home now?

She prepared herself for another clap of thunder. It came, but this time in the sound of a fist at her door.

Haruhi floundered in place. Did her dad actually come home? Why wasn't he using his key?

"Haruhi!" She heard someone call her name from outside the door, though she couldn't recognize the voice from both the pounding rain and her distance from the door.

She stumbled through the dark, blinking her eyes wide in hopes of acquiring night vision as she stretched her arms out in front of her to keep from tripping. In a weird way, she was grateful for whoever was at the door, even if it wasn't her dad coming to rescue her. The task of trying to get to the door in the dark was keeping her mind off of the thunder.

"Hold on!" Haruhi called as she flipped the lock and the door swung open. She had thought it was wishful thinking for her dad to be home and she was right. In the flash of lightning, she could barely make out the figure in front of her. "Kaoru?"

The younger twin, fully drenched to the bone, pushed his way inside without responding and closed the door. Pushing back his soggy hood from his dripping red hair, Kaoru smiled. "Hey, Haruhi!"

She stared up at him, trying her best to focus on his face in the dark. It was nearly pitch black and she was mostly following the sound of his voice at this point. "What are you doing here?"

Kaoru stepped out of his shoes. "Why are all the lights off in here?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"The power got knocked out," she answered, feeling a bit dizzy. What was Kaoru doing here? And even more unnering, what was Kaoru doing here without Hikaru? "But you didn't answer my question."

Kaoru slipped out his cellphone and the home screen illuminated the otherwise black room. Haruhi had to rub her face to better adjust to the new blinding light. "Duh," Kaoru said like the answer was obvious. He held up a pair of shopping bags that she had not noticed previously. "I brought a _survive the thunderstorm_ survival kit."

He beamed at her and Haruhi blinked up at him. "Wow. Thanks, Kaoru." She looked him up and down and frowned. "But if you're going to stay here, you're going to have to change into something dry. You can't be dripping wet on my couch."

Kaoru grinned mischievously in a way that Haruhi knew meant trouble. "You know," he purred, cupping her chin with his index finger, "you could always help me undress if you'd like."

She rolled her eyes. "If you're going to try and flirt with me, wait until you're dry, alright?"

Haruhi was relieved when the thunder held off long enough for her and Kaoru to get settled. She was lucky enough to find some of Ranka's old button downs and a pair of pajama bottoms that didn't look too feminine for Kaoru to wear. She ended up tossing his wet clothes into the bathtub.

"Put your shirt on, Kaoru," Haruhi grumbled when said boy strolled out of the bathroom in just the pajama bottoms, shirt slung over his shoulder. She tightened her blanket around her shoulders again when she heard a low rumble overhead.

Kaoru plopped down next to Haruhi at the short table in the living room. "Why?" he grinned mischievously. "Does it make you nervous?"

"Not any more nervous than usual," she retorted, purposefully averting her eyes from her friend's stomach. "But I did spend ten minutes rifling through my dad's stuff to find you a shirt without ruffles so you'd better wear it."

"Fine, fine." He slid the shirt over his head and Haruhi allowed herself a quick glance at him when he couldn't see her. She might not have any interest in him romantically, but he was still cute. "Okay," he said, poking his head through the shirt hole, "wanna see the goodies I brought?"

"Okay."

He set to pillaging one of the bags. The first thing he pulled out was hot chocolate mix. "For obvious reasons," he said with a pointed look. He then pulled out two notebooks, a package of markers, and a box of crayons. "I thought that coloring might help calm you down."

Haruhi quirked a brow. It was at least an interesting idea. But caught her attention more-so was the second bag that he had brought. "Okay, but what's with all of the candles?" She picked up one of the many candles for emphasis but Kaoru just shrugged.

"I thought it would be romantic?"

"You really are hopeless."

"Turns out it was a good purchase considering your power is out."

"Shut up."

She found a box of matches in a drawer in the kitchen and together she and Kaoru set up lit candles all around the living room. Once they finished, Kaoru sat her down at the table and set one of the notebooks in front of her along with the markers.

"Okay Haruhi," he crooned, taking the ends of her hair into his hands as he stood behind her. "What I want you to do it to draw what comes to mind when you hear the thunder."

"Are you kidding me?" She jerked her head back and stared up at his upside down smirk. "What's that supposed-"

A sudden roar outside made goosebumps jump out on her arms. Without thinking, Haruhi flung her arms around Kaoru's legs and hung on for dear life. She was waiting for the teasing, the self-degrading pat on the head, something.

Instead, Kaoru crouched down, unhooking her arms from his legs and leading them to his neck and shoulders where she clung to him again while the apartment continued to tremor. She hugged him hard, squeezing the back of his shirt in his hands. All the while, he cradled the back of her head and lower back until the booming stopped.

"K-kaoru?" she whispered tersely into her friend's shoulder. She wasn't quite sure of what to say. Nothing like this had ever happened with him and the red hot embarrassment was starting to poke out onto her face.

Kaoru leaned back on his heel so that he was looking down at her with the most sincere smile she had ever seen him have. Even in the dim candle light she could make out the gentleness on his face. "Okay, let's try this now."

He kept her close to his side as he urged her to color what she felt during her episode. She protested at first, but he had been insistent and even shoved a marker into her sweaty palm. "It's a type of therapy, Haruhi. Please just try it for me."

She groaned and against her better judgement, she decided to indulge him. First she picked up a grey marker and drew what looked somewhat like a cloud. She felt a little self-conscious about Kaoru watching her over her shoulder, but when she looked over at him, he was engrossed in his own drawing.

"I'm not watching," he said softly without looking at her.

"Okay."

Without any pressure, Haruhi found herself enjoying the task more than she thought. She scribbled colors on the paper and random shapes. When the thunder would crack again, Haruhi would clutch her blanket over her head and lean into Kaoru for comfort before eagerly continuing her picture once the onslaught of racket ceased.

"Finished." It was around midnight when she held her drawing up to the candle light for him to see.

He squinted at it skeptically. "I had no idea that thunderstorms made you think of dinosaurs fighting monster sharks."

"What?" Haruhi looked at her paper and laughed. She hadn't drawn anything other than random shapes and lines, but it had ended up looking eerily like he had described. "Wow. You're right."

Kaoru chuckled, leaning back on his palm. "You mean you weren't aiming for that?"

She shouldered into him, rolling her eyes. "I was just drawing what came to mind like you told me too." She stopped, looking at the low burning candle on the table. "It helped calm my nerves so thank you."

"Your welcome."

Haruhi stretched her arms over her head. Now that the rain had diminished to a quiet sprinkle and the thunder was gone, she decided it was time for bed. "Well, I'm going to hit the sack," she yawned, staggering to her feet. "You can sleep on the couch."

Kaoru's sweet smile morphed into one of his devilish ones he usually reserved for when he was being a nuisance with his brother. "You could always thank me by letting me sleep in your bed with you." He raised his eyebrows.

Haruhi cracked a grin, rolling her eyes. "You really are impossible. Put out the candles before you go to bed."

"Okay." Kaoru yawned, flopping backwards on the floor. "Goodnight, Haruhi."

"Sweet dreams, Kaoru."

She padded back down the narrow hall to the closet like bedroom that she called home. Once snugly wrapped beneath her covers, Haruhi noticed her phone flashing with several unread messages.

 _Haruhi!? Are you okay? The thunder is pretty loud_

 _-Tamaki_

 _Did you get my last text? I can come over if you want!_

 _-Tamaki_

 _Haruhi, you're really making daddy nervous!_

 _-Tamaki_

 _Please tell me Ranka is with you. I'd hate for you to be alone_

 _-Tamaki_

Haruhi exhaled deeply, thinking of the boy who was currently crashed out in her living room. She thought of how he brought her therapeutic crafts and how he let her cling to him when she needed support.

 _Don't worry, I wasn't alone,_ she typed back with a sleepy smile. _I had Kaoru with me._

 _..._

maybe Hunny and Mori will be next

8/27/16


	3. Hunny and Mori

Hunny and Mori

It was late in the day when the rain came this time.

Per the usual when she as home on the weekends, Haruhi found herself alone in the house. She knew it wasn't her dad's fault that his profession forced him to be gone all of the time, but she wished he was around more, especially on the days when the thunder came.

She went about her routine, pulling the drapes closed and the likes. She found her blanket and wrapped it around herself snugly; however, this time she didn't shrink back as far as she could into the couch the way she normally would have.

Instead, she settled in front of the table in her living room and pulled out the sketch pad and markers that Kaoru had left with her so many weeks ago. He had stayed with her and urged her to draw out how she felt when she heard the thunder, and despite her initial hesitation, Haruhi had found it very soothing.

The thunder still terrified her to the point of being a trembling mess, but the coloring helped.

Absently mindedly, Haruhi picked up a periwinkle colored marker and began tapping it against the side of the the table. It reminded her of the color of her Ouran uniform and it had slowly grown to be her favorite color (God forbid any of of the Host Club found out that detail.)

The rain hadn't started yet, but Haruhi wanted to run the brisk marker along the paper anyway. The color was too pretty to not use. She skimmed through a couple of her old drawings, coming to a stop at a folded piece of paper that she had tucked inside. It was the first drawing that Kaoru had commented that it looked like sharks and dinosaurs were fighting.

Haruhi continued to skim through her sketch-pad until she came to the last page that was decorated with what resembled a puddle of flowers. Except, that was the problem. She was the end of the book. Frantically, Haruhi flipped back to the start, only this time looking in depthly for any blank pages.

When she reached the end a second time with no luck, she started to panic. How could she have used up so many pages? How many thunderstorms had she been through Kaoru gave her the sketch pad? She counted twenty-six, but there were many more filled up pages in the sketch pad than a measly twenty-six.

Sure, she had taken a habit to drawing more often as a stress coping mechanism, but how in the last three months was she able to fill up a seventy page book? (Then a mental image of the Host Club popped into her head and decided that her stress levels were completely plausible.)

Except now she didn't have anything to draw on…Haruhi peaked up at the clock on the wall. It read 2:34pm. The rain would be here soon and she didn't want to risk going to the store to pick up a new sketch pad only to get stranded.

With the revelation that she wasn't going to get to vent her feelings on paper, the room suddenly seemed to shrink, almost to the point where Haruhi was pretty sure that she was suffocating. Drawing had become such an important part of her thunderstorm routine, it was horrifying that she wasn't able to do it now.

The rain still hadn't come yet, but the first clap of thunder did and the fierce crash made Haruhi jump three feet before she dove head first into the couch with her heart rate beating the fastest she'd ever felt it. Not only was she riled about the thunder, now she was riled about the thunder and not being able to cope with it which made things about ten times worse.

The thunder crashed again. Then again, except the third time was more hollow sounding, more like a door. She sat up so that her eyes were hesitantly peaking up over the armrest of the couch.

The pounding came again, except now that she focused in on the sound it didn't sound as violent of a knock as before. That immediately ruled out the twins and Tamaki. Then who—

"Haru-chaaaaaan~" Hunny's cheerful voice sang on the other side of the door. "It's me and Takeshi! Are you home? If you are, I hope you're okay! We heard the thunder on our way back from Takeshi's Kendo practice and we wanted to make sure you were okay!"

"Yeah," Mori's deep voice agreed.

"One second!" Haruhi breathed deeply, then stepped onto the carpet. Her heart rate was still off the charts but knowing that she was no longer alone seemed to be doing great things for her pulsing chest.

She flung the door open, greeted by the perky smile of Hunny-senpai and well as the stoic neutral expression that Mori-senpai normally wore. Both of them held bags in their arms which was slightly unnerving.

Hunny's smile widened. "Haru-chan! You are home!"

Haruhi looked past him, up at the dark sky. The wind was picking up just as fast as her heart beat was. Maybe company wasn't helping as much as she thought it would. "What's in the bags?"

She thought it would be wishful thinking to hope that they had brought her a new sketch pad, but that didn't stop her from getting her hopes up.

Mori held up one of the bags where Haruhi could make out a red box product and what looked like what could be frosting. "Cake," was his one worded answer.

"Hunny-senpai, Mori-senpai...why did you bring cake supplies to my house?"

Her question was left unanswered because another round of thunder erupted. On her first instinct, Haruhi dove into Mori for some kind of comfort. She seemed to have this problem a lot, seeing as how she had now hugged onto Mori as well as Tamaki and Kaoru in the past.

Mori grunted, picking Haruhi up so that she was nestled on his arm. Blushing, Haruhi looked down at Hunny who was grinning up at her with bright eyes. "I guess it is a good thing we came right, Haru-chan?"

Haruhi didn't have time to answer as Hunny let himself into her apartment and it wasn't like she was going to stop Mori from carrying her inside. The rains were-ah-comin' and she didn't want to be stuck outside so the faster they were under the roof, the safer she would feel.

Ha, safe. Really funny, she thought. Haruhi just wanted her sketch pad back.

Gently, Mori set Haruhi back on her feet in the kitchen. She stared up at him in wonder for a second before she redirected her attention to the short third-year who was organizing a bunch of ingredients on her counter.

"Hunny, what is all of this?" She asked, picking up a small tub of icing. It was periwinkled colored. Quickly, she set it back down before they would notice her staring.

Holding his hands to his chin in his cutesy-way, Hunny smiled widely. "Kao-chan said that he came over once to help you get through a thunderstorm! We wanted to help too!"

Mori grunted off to the side in agreement, catching Haruhi's attention. "Baking will take your mind off of the storm," he stated, picking up one of the cake mixes they had brought.

Haruhi tried to fight back a smile, but their genuine concern was too sweet. "Thanks, guys, but I'm a terrible baker."

"That's okay, Haru," Hunny put his fists on his hips in a determined fashion, "Me and Takeshi aren't either! It will be fun doing it together!" He dipped down into one of the bags he hadn't emptied yet and pulled out a fluttery pink cloth. "Look what we got for you, Haru-chan! I picked it out for you!"

Once they were all dressed in their appointed aprons, Haruhi's being pink and covered in frosting covered hearts while Mori and Hunny's being white with a weird saying on it, it was time to bake.

Haruhi couldn't remember the last time she baked so it became an adventure in itself trying to reacquaint herself with the oven, how it worked, and where all of the baking equipment was. Hunny and Mori were almost just as useless as she was in this department considering this was their first time baking anything.

Once she found a bowl, Haruhi took the liberty of performing the measurements and letting Hunny mix everything. Mori seemed content with Googling different frosting decorations they could do once everything was baked, so she decided to let him be.

It was once the cake was in the oven did Hunny run up to her and hug her tightly around the waist. "Gah! Hunny? What's wrong?" she asked, looking around for a bug or something.

Hunny shook his head, smiling at her with his head tilted slightly. "You didn't notice the thunder the entire time we were baking, did you?"

Haruhi blinked, trying to focus on Hunny's face but her eyes drifted up to where the rain was pouring violently. Sure, now that she saw the rain she admitted that she could hear the pitter-patter of the droplets hitting the roof, but surely it hadn't thundered. How could it thunder and she'd _miss_ it? She was too hyper-aware of it!

Still, the petite brunette found herself looking up to Mori who nodded at her with a faint smile. Mori never lied. So it must have thundered. It thundered. It thundered _and_ she had missed it.

A look of thoughtfulness took over her features as she tried to figure out why this would happen. "I guess," she finally decided, "I was too worried about you, Hunny-senpai. I didn't want you making a mess of my kitchen." She laughed and Hunny giggled along with her.

In retrospect, it should have occurred to her that the moment that the moment she started putting energy into the thought of thunder, it would just come back. The only reason she hadn't spazzed out while they were baking was because she was too absorbed to even notice it. It wasn't like she was immune to the fear because she was still honest to God horrified by it. So when the horrible crash sounded again, Haruhi found herself cowering under the living room table.

Then Mori was crouched in front of her, extending his hand silently. It almost reminded her of the time in the café with Kyoya when she had flipped out.

Haruhi accepted his hand and he pulled her out from under the table. He smiled down at her gently, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze before letting it go. "We have baking to finish," he murmured simply.

Haruhi nodded stiffly and followed him back to the kitchen where Hunny looked depressed, his stuffed bunny hanging from his hand at his side. "I'm sorry, Haru. I didn't mean to upset you. Did you want to hold Usa-chan?" He held the bunny out.

Haruhi smiled tenderly, accepting the bunny plush mostly to not make him feel bad. "Thanks, Hunny-senpai."

Then the timer on the cupcakes went off and that was the end of that conversation.

Together, the three of them worked together on decorating the cupcakes. Every once in awhile, thunder would crack and Haruhi would flinch, but she didn't hide again. It wasn't until her fourth cupcake did Hunny peer over her shoulder at her work.

"Your favorite color is periwinkle, isn't it, Haru-chan?" Haruhi stiffened at his voice hovering beside her ear. He giggled to himself. "Just like the color of our Ouran uniforms!"

Haruhi set her cupcake down. "It's not my favorite color," she mumbled, "why would you think that?"

The pouty-thoughtful look that Hunny got when he was being insightful appeared on his face and his voice became even more understanding. "It's okay for it to be your favorite color, Haru-chan. It's okay for the Host Club to give you a good feeling."

"I know."

Hunny smiled again, pointing at the cupcakes she had done. "I think it's sweet that you're writing our names on the cupcakes."

Haruhi looked down at where _Kyoya, Tamaki,_ and _Kaoru_ were written in cursive on her completed cupcakes. She had just started _Hikaru_ when she had been interrupted. "I kind of did it without thinking."

"If it helps you," Mori said, leaning forward, "then it's okay. It would please the others to know that you look to us for comfort."

Haruhi blushed slightly, looking down at her friends' names written in periwinkle colored frosting. "They don't need to know. It would only cause trouble."

The rain stopped all together after that. It was around seven thirty when Hunny and Mori bid their good-byes and went home. Her dad would be home soon—his vacation days started tonight. Haruhi was sure that he would be ecstatic to find her new frilly apron and cupcakes made up.

Grabbing two cupcakes at random, Haruhi lumbered to her room with the full intent of watching reruns of The Office while eating her freshly baked snack. She was barely two steps into the room when her phone started vibrating on her nightstand.

She was tempted to just ignore it, but found herself setting down one cupcake to answer the call. "Hello?"

"Oh HARUHI!"

Per the usual, Haruhi had to pull the phone back from her head to keep internal bleeding from happening in her ear. "What is it, Tamaki?"

"I've been calling you for hours! Were you okay through the thunderstorm?" His voice was frantic which was somewhat endearing but mostly annoying, especially at this time of night.

"Yeah, I'm alright. My dad will be home soon."

Tamaki gasped on the other end of the line. "You mean you've been alone this entire time?"

Haruhi glanced down at her cupcakes where _Hunny_ and _Mori_ were intricately written in periwinkle cursive. "Nah," she smiled, twirling one of the cupcakes in her hand, "Mori and Hunny were with me."

9/11/16


	4. Hikaru

Hikaru

Haruhi wanted to get back before the storm hit.

At least, that had been the plan, anyway. Usually it was the easiest for her to simply walk into town to get any groceries or necessities for the apartment, but the Host Club had insisted that for this special night commemorating the one year anniversary since Haruhi joined their club deserved some special food—Tamaki suggested that Haruhi finally get her fancy tuna.

Which of course is the only reason why Haruhi allowed all six Host Club boys to be in her house at once. It had become pretty commonplace for one or two of the boys to come over to hang out a little bit, but only rarely were all of them in her crowded apartment at the same time.

The sushi place that Kyoya had ordered out from had a new policy regarding deliveries a certain radius out from the restaurant and it just so happened Haruhi's apartment fell just outside of its jurisdiction. Judging by the slack of his jaw and tick of his eyebrow, Haruhi figured out the problem and was out the door to pick of the food before he or any of the others could blow such a small problem out of proportion.

It's not like she was too lazy to drive an extra twenty minutes to get their food. That and she really didn't want to be dragged into one of their big, rambunctious schemes again.

She had just started the engine when Hikaru climbed into the passenger's seat and grinned, "Thought you could use the company."

Haruhi had told him she'd be fine without it, but since it was clear he wasn't going to be swayed in his decision of accompanying her, she just put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking space.

It had been bright and sunny when they had left, and it had been bright and sunny when they entered the restaurant, but as they waited for their food's preparations to be finished Haruhi couldn't help but notice the darkening sky.

"I didn't know it was supposed to rain," she murmured, narrowing her eyes at the ominous clouds.

Hikaru shrugged, hands in his pockets as he leaned backward slightly to reach her eye level. "I don't think it was supposed to. I swear, that weather guy is always getting his facts mixed up!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Don't take it out on the weather guy. It's not like he can control it."

"No," Hikaru conceded, a lazy frown adorning his face, "but it's his job to predict the weather so he might as well get better at that."

"Then maybe you should go into the weather forecasting business since you're so passionate about it." Haruhi enjoyed the embarrassed blush that spread over her friend's nose and cheeks. Served him right for getting a smart mouth. Again.

"I'm not passionate," Hikaru grumbled. He watched her from the corner of his eyes for a second, looked away, then zeroed in on her again. When she caught him watching, he began tracing his finger along the advertisement poster that they were next to.

"You are too, passionate," she rebutted. "And stop touching the poster, Hikaru. Someone worked hard on that."

Hikaru scoffed, scrutinizing the inconsistent letter sizes and poor color pallet. "Guess they didn't work hard enough."

"What was that?" Haruhi's voice was hard and dripping with sarcasm as she sized him up with an unamused look. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over your horrible personality."

Hikaru's stoic frown melted into that of one of his mischievous ones. "Oh Haruhi-"

"Oh would you look at that!" Haruhi purposefully ignored him. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over our food being called either." She turned on her heel and marched up to the counter, secretly relieved that she didn't have to face whatever scheme Hikaru had obviously been about to execute.

The girl behind the counter regarded Haruhi skeptically. "Order for Kyoya?" Her eyes shifted from the three large bags on the counter beside her to Haruhi.

Haruhi smiled. "Yeah, that's me." She slipped her wallet out of her pocket and waited patiently.

The blonde behind the counter smiled a bit smugly. "That will be a total of five-thousand three-hundred forty-one yen."

Haruhi felt her stomach drop through the floor. She could have dinner for a week with that much money and this was only for one meal? How much did this fancy tuna cost?

Color drained further from her face when she remembered that the blonde was waiting for her to pay and leave, but all Haruhi had in her wallet was two-thousand yen, an old baseball card, a bobby pin, and a ball of lint. Yeah, that last one was kind of embarrassing…

"Miss?" The blonde prompted impatiently.

Haruhi laughed nervously. "Uh, you see, I'm not the one who-"

"Charge it to this." Hikaru's hand appeared from behind her holding a red and black credit card. Casting a sideways glance up at him, Haruhi noted that he looked considerably upset. Had her comment about the weather really angered him that much?

The girl hesitated for a moment before taking the card from his fingers, ran it through a card reader, and then her eyes nearly fell out of her head. "Y-you're one of the Hitachiins?" she barely stuttered out.

It was obvious that Hikaru was trying his best not to snap at her rudely as he plucked his card out of her hand and slid it into his back pocket. "That's right." He looked down at Haruhi and his gaze softened. "Let's go, Haruhi."

He turned on his heel, leaving little time for Haruhi to grab all three bags of their food and catch up with him. When she was an arms length behind him she said, "Sorry for upsetting you so bad back there. I didn't mean what I said about the weatherman thing."

Hikaru opened the back door and Haruhi set their bags down on the floor. Something about his expression made her wonder if it had been something else that had happened back there that had made him so upset, but he simply nodded. Then he smirked and asked, "So can I drive?"

He held his hands out playfully for the keys. Haruhi laughed once, then assumed her usual no-nonsense tone. "No way in hell, Hikaru."

"Ah, come on Haruhi!" he whined. She bypassed him, climbing into the driver's seat while he clambered into the passenger's side. "I got my license now!"

"And so does Kaoru." The first specks of rain appeared on her windshield as they pulled out onto the main road. If they were lucky and the traffic was good, then they would be able to make it home before there were any complications. "And having two Hitachiins on the road kinda freaks me out if I'm being honest."

Hikaru raised his eyebrows, scoffing slightly. "We're safe drivers! I'm insulted you think so little of us Haruhi!"

"Get used to it." She laughed at Hikaru's pouting. "Okay, fine. I'm sure Kaoru is a safe driver."

"Oh, but you don't think I am?" Hikaru shot back. This time he did look mildly offended, which she hadn't been aiming for.

Haruhi flipped the wipers on as the rain began to get heavier. "Relax, Hikaru," she said, "You're probably fine too." She paused for a second, grinning mischievously. "But if your driving is anything like you sitting shotgun, my worries are not without problication."

Suddenly something poked her in the cheek and she was laughing. "See?" she declared, shoving a giggling Hikaru back into his seat, "this is exactly what I meant! You're gonna-"

The lightning crash made Haruhi react instantly; without meaning too, her foot crashed on the breaks and the car jolted violently to a stop in the middle of the street. Fortunately, the road was mostly deserted, but now they were just sitting in the middle of the road as a storm raged around them and lightning bared her teeth.

Hikaru rubbed his head. "Fricken hell, holy shit," he groaned.

Haruhi barely noticed him- her attention was fixed on the torrential rain outside. Despite her incessant trembling, she kept a death grip on the wheel with both hands and both of her small feet were clamped down over the break pedal.

This was the worst. Haruhi had developed a system for weathering storms when she was out it public, but being in a car where she was controlling it while there was thunder was an entirely new experience. One tense flinch while she's making a turn or instinctively closing her eyes to block out the sound could mean game over for her and someone else.

Before now, the thought had never crossed her mind; Haruhi had only just received her license not long before the twins, but it had felt so natural to her that she was never worried when she went out. But after this, she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to go out like this again. After all, it had been a perfect day when she left, not a cloud in sight! How was she going to be able to enjoy herself when she drove now that she would constantly have paranoia about if the weather were to suddenly turn on her?

She hadn't realized it, but tears began to slip down her cheeks as her heart pounded and lungs begged for air. Her brain only just now recognized the trauma from the near crash. A big fat droplet dropped into her lap, leaving wet spots on her oversized sweatshirt.

Still numb, Haruhi become acutely aware of the car's engine suddenly shutting off but her eyes remained glued to the hood of the car being relentlessly barraged by rain. Something soft snuggling into her hand and entwining her fingers is what finally made Haruhi come back to reality.

"Haruhi?" Relief flooded through Hikaru's amber eyes.

Haruhi looked looked down at their hands. "Hikaru?" she mumbled, and a tear slid down her nose. He waited expectantly, the most tender expression she had ever seen on his face. Never in her life did Haruhi think she'd ever see such a gentle expression on the eldest twin's face. "I'm _scared_."

The next thunder crash unleashed all of her fear— the fear she felt when the thunder roars and the fear she felt when the car came to a heart dropping stop earlier— and she launched herself into Hikaru's arms while her sobs reached a high volume.

She knew what she was trying to do with these loud wails— she wanted to drown out the thunder that just wasn't going away. No doubt their food was spilled all over the backseat, leaving her with a dirty car, no fancy tuna, and an extra five thousand yen debt so that was another thing to cry over.

Hikaru tried consoling her, but he must've realized his attempts at out-louding her were low because he came that up and just held her close by keeping his chin firmly tucked on top of her head and he squeezing her hand affectionately.

Eventually, her tears stopped but the trembling didn't and the thunder only seemed to grow louder and closer. She didn't want to drive again until everything was over. Hikaru must have picked up on her resolve, because he shifted ever so slightly so that his mouth was nestled just above her ear.

"I can drive," he whispered gently. "You don't have to worry about it."

Haruhi tried to laugh, but no sound came out other than a hiccup in the back of her throat. He tried to move from under her, but she clutched onto his arm. "It's too loud!" she whimpered.

The only thing that had been keeping her sane this whole time was his heartbeat; the sure, steady sound was just enough for her to focus on to drown out as much of the thunder as possible.

"Too loud?" Hikaru gave her hand another squeeze. "You mean the thunder is?"

Normally Haruhi would have had to bite back a laugh at a comment like that, but she was too numb. Too drained to give coherent thoughts...well, much thought. Instead, she nodded.

Hikaru's body suddenly leaned forward, taking Haruhi along with him but he kept a tight grip around her upper arms and used his knees to support her. When he leaned back, the car was blasting upbeat pop music that had suddenly made itself popular among the Host Club boys.

"Listen to this," Hikaru said. This time, Haruhi didn't complain when he shifted her weight into the seat and crawled over into the the driver's seat. When he was situated, he revved up the engine which helped block out the thunder even more.

The car peeled back into the lane. If there was one thing that Haruhi would never be able to heckle Hikaru about ever again, it would have to be his driving because he had been right—he was a pretty safe driver. Even with the limited visibility from the rain and the cacophony of thunder and blasting music, Haruhi felt safer with Hikaru at the wheel than her own father.

At a red light, the station's music switched to a commercial and the thunder became aggressive again. Haruhi whimpered, clutching her hands over her head. "Don't worry, Haruhi," Hikaru said soothingly as he switched the station to one with upbeat music. "Focus on the words and the sounds of the song. There's nothing to be afraid of."

It when on like that for the rest of the ride home; Hikaru would make sure the radio was always blasting some kind of music and Haruhi kept her eyes shut tightly with her hands stuffed into the front of her sweatshirt. Occasionally, Hikaru would give her his hand to hold but not often since he quickly realized that she was squeezing his hand so tight his bones might shatter.

By the time they were back in front of her apartment building, Haruhi had to be shook awake. "Hikaru?" she mumbled sleepily, sitting up. She noticed his hand resting on her shoulder. It had stopped raining.

Hikaru smiled. "Hey, we're home. And good news! The food didn't get all over your car!" He held up one of the three bags in his lap for emphasis.

"Really?" It sounded stupid even to her, but it was the only word she could make her mouth say.

But Hikaru only grinned again. "Alright, let's get inside then. The boss is probably worried."

Haruhi stretched her arms up over her head—when had she fallen asleep?— then climbed out of the car to follow Hikaru up the steps to the second level. She grabbed onto his wrist as he reached for the doorknob, stopping him in his tracks.

"Haruhi?" He looked down at her like a deer in the headlights which she found both endearing and comical. "What is it?"

Haruhi smiled, hugging him around the waist. He stumbled a bit, caught off guard, but she righted him. "Thank you, Hikaru."

Hikaru smiled into her hair, thankful for something to hide his pink face, but then she was no longer in his embrace and the door was flung open. Embarrassment filling his stomach, Hikaru pulled his neck down into his pullover hoodie to hide his face.

"Haru-chan!" Hunny jumped into Haruhi's arms the moment she stepped into the apartment. "Are you and Hika-chan okay? We were all so worried!"

"Don't be." Hikaru set down the sushi on the table. "We brought the goods."

"Drugs?" Kaoru smirked. Hikaru rolled his eyes.

Haruhi pried off Hunny and dropped him into Mori's arms just as Tamaki rounded the corner in a mad dash with Kyoya a beat behind. Then Tamaki was hanging all over her, cupping her face the way he does when he's in a fit of affection.

"Really, I'm fine, Tamaki," she promised, shimmying out of his grasp.

"But," Tamaki held his arms out, looking depressed, "Daddy just wants to make sure you're safe Haruhi!"

Haruhi peered passed Tamaki into the kitchen where Hikaru was balancing three pieces of sushi on his nose. She smiled, patting Tamaki on the arm gently. "No need to worry, Tamaki. Hikaru made sure that I was safe."

10/4/16


	5. Tamaki

Tamaki

*spoilers for the manga* can be read and enjoyed the manga as well*

Living on the coast was pretty cool most of the time, but it was terrifying when the storms came.

It had been four months since she had come to live in Boston and most of it was a dream come true; the school she was going to was fully paid for, sampling Western style food and clothes was becoming a favorite hobby of hers, and everything was in walking distance the way she was used too.

The only problem, she quickly found out in the weeks following her move, was that the storms here were terrifyingly noteworthy. The windows of her seven story apartment overlooked the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean, which she supposed was something most people would want living in a coastal city, but it only made Haruhi more anxious.

The ocean was her best determinate on how the weather would be; days that tended to be sunny and calm usually started out with a with a beautiful sunrise that illuminated the sky with beautiful hues of pink and orange. The days that were doomed with horrible storms didn't even start with the sun—instead, a dull grey hung in the air and grey clouds were visible over the water hours before the rain and wind even came.

Today was one of those days, where the clouds hung on the horizon for several hours, taunting her as they rolled closer to the shore. Haruhi hugged herself as she stared out of the window at the harbor down the coast a ways. The waves were already getting rough. That was the other thing that sucked about living in a coastal area during a thunderstorm—not only did she have to worry about the terror that is thunderstorms but also the possibility that some freak flood could happen and kill her.

Of course, that was mostly irrational paranoia, especially for someone as levelheaded as Haruhi Fujioka, but thunderstorms were where she couldn't exactly think straight even after all of these years. She wasn't sure how she would have survived the first thunderstorm in Boston without the Host Club, who had dropped everything and left Japan and followed her to America.

Up until that point, Haruhi had been a little annoyed that they couldn't just let her be independent. Less than a week later the first thunderstorm hit and Haruhi was swept up in Kyoya's weather updates, drawing with Kaoru, cooking with Hunny and Mori, blaring American music with Hikaru, and Tamaki's reassuring hugs. It was when she woke up in the morning surrounded by her boys that she finally realized that she needed them as much as they needed her.

Unfortunately, it was spring break and five-sixths of them were back in Japan visiting their families. Tamaki stayed behind to keep her company, amidst the twins' protests of wanting to stay too, but he currently was enroute back to their apartment from a job interview.

Huffing to herself indignantly, Haruhi closed the blinds in the living room. Remembering her thunderstorm protocol that she was accustomed to with the boys, Haruhi flipped on the TV to the news to make sure she didn't miss any updates on the weather. She slapped down her crayons and latest notebook from Kaoru on the coffee table, turned up the volume on the mix CD Hikaru had made, and then sat down with a rabbit themed muffin that Hunny had left behind for her the day they left.

The only thing missing now was Tamaki's arms around her…

The first strike of lightning peaked through the thin curtain, preparing Haruhi for the rumble that followed. The deep sound resonated in her chest, echoing the rapid beats of her heart.

" _Don't stop believin',"_ she sang to herself obnoxiously loud as a means of drowning out the sound as she scribbled a red blob in her notebook that resembled a crab. She gripped her crayon as another bout of thunder slipped through her musical barrier. " _Hold onto that feelin'."_

Haruhi finished her muffin and tossed the wrapper to the side, bringing her attention to her cellphone setting on the corner. Why hadn't he called her yet? Usually he would have called or at least sent a text to make sure someone was with her.

Maybe that was why he hadn't checked in? Because he already knew that was going to be alone in the apartment? Haruhi shook her head, trying to focus on her drawing but the thunder kept making her stomach clench. Tamaki would have called regardless if he knew she was alone or not. If he hadn't called then it was because something was preventing him.

Groaning, Haruhi tried to enjoy the K-Pop song that had just replaced _Journey_. It seemed like no matter how much she immersed herself in different projects, the thunder always managed to rile her when she was alone. Why couldn't Tamaki just hurry up?

The wind was starting to pick up when the door swung open. "Haruhi?" Tamaki's frantic voice exclaimed from the doorway.

Haruhi slid off of the couch, secretly relieved that he was home safe. He was soaking wet and he was trying to stand on the welcome mat exclusively, probably trying to keep from dripping on the carpet. A grocery bag hung from his hands. "Tamaki, where have you been?" she asked, helping him slip off of his coat.

"I wanted to make sure we had your favorite snacks, Haruhi," Tamaki sang excitedly. "When I saw the storm clouds, I rushed from my job interview to pick them up and make it back in time!"

Haruhi inhaled deeply. "You didn't get the job then did you?"

Tamaki laughed nervously in the cute way that he did. "Haha, no, Haruhi. I may have left before my interview started."

Haruhi didn't bother to mention the immense time gap between the time he left the doctor's office he was going to work at and the time he got home. "I'm going to throw this in the bathtub. Go change."

Haruhi left Tamaki pouting in the entryway as she hurried down the hall with his coat, hiding a small smile. Just him being home was enough to make the thunder a little more bearable. She unceremoniously tossed the sopping coat into the tub and then padded back into the living room where Tamaki was dressed in his blue silk pajamas.

Apparently he was attempting to move fast because he nearly set the cuff of his pajamas on fire as he lit a pair of candles. Crackers and other goodies were dumped into the middle of the table, including one of her favorite American delicacies, Girl Scout cookies.

"What's all this?"

Tamaki nearly jumped out of his pajamas. "Haruhi, you were faster than I expected," he exclaimed dramatically, stepping in front of the table to hide the setup he was creating. "Daddy's not done yet, darling."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "You're not my dad. And relax, Tama-"

The loudest clap of thunder growled through the apartment, and Haruhi's heart would have jumped straight out of her body had it not been for her ribs caging it in like a frightened animal. It didn't help that it was at this moment that Hikaru's CD ended and was waiting on stand-by.

The second burst of growls and Haruhi was on her knees, holding her face in her hands. It seemed like an eternity before Tamaki scooped her up into his arms, whispering reassuring words that she didn't quite catch through her stupor.

He lowered her onto what she knew was the couch, but she didn't open her eyes until he was sitting with his arm around her tenderly. "Alright," he said cheerfully, flipping the input mode on the TV to their BlueRay player, "while I was getting the essentials, I happened to find a 'five dollar DVD' bin so I bought a whole bunch! Walmart is the best commoners' store ever, Haruhi!"

Haruhi leaned into him, numbly looking up at the TV screen. It was at the DVD menu for some romantic comedy. "How many did you buy?"

Tamaki giggled nervously again, wrapping his arms around her protectively...or he was subtly pinning her down so she wouldn't flip out on him. Either way it didn't matter; she was content in his firm hold. "I may have grabbed ten of them," he admitted, "but they were at such a good prince Haruhi."

"I'm pretty sure you could have bought this for two American dollars on Amazon," she deadpanned.

"Haruhi," he sang, "I was only trying to be thoughtful!"

Haruhi smiled into his arm. "It was," she mumbled. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him blushing.

"Shall we watch the movie, then?" He clicked play without waiting for a response.

It was barely ten minutes into the movie when her cellphone went off. "It's Hikaru," she said, looking at the caller ID.

Tamaki grunted, burying his face into her hair. "Don't answer it. We're watching a movie."

"You can pause it," she retorted softly, answering the phone. Off to her side, Tamaki muttered about the _meddling, good for nothing twins_ as he paused the the movie. "Hikaru?" she asked into the phone, "is everything alright over there? This better be important if you're making me take an international call."

" _Haruhi!"_ both Hikaru and Kaoru's voices chorused together in relief.

" _Haru-chan,"_ Hunny whimpered into the phone, " _please tell me that you're alright!"_

" _We were all at dinner with your dad,"_ Kaoru said.

"My dad?" Haruhi barked.

" _When Kyoya mentioned that Boston was supposed to have a big storm tonight!"_ Hikaru finished, ignoring her interjection.

" _We were so worried, Haru-chan! We wanted to make sure you were okay!"_ Hunny.

" _Your father says hello, by the way, Haruhi,"_ Kyoya's calm voice came from her reciever.

Haruhi stifled a laugh. "Tell him hi for me, would ya?"

"Kyoya!" Tamaki shoved his face into the phone so that he and Haruhi's faces were touching as they spoke into the phone. "I miss you!"

Haruhi could practically hear the sigh on the other end. " _It's only been three days, Tamaki,"_ he said, " _It hasn't been long enough for you to miss me, nor for me to miss you."_

Tamaki pouted, "You don't miss me, Kyoya?"

" _No."_

" _Hey, boss,"_ Kaoru's voice took over, " _you're taking care of Haruhi right?"_

" _Yeah."_ Mori.

" _I don't wanna come back to Haruhi sitting in the corner, traumatized because you sucked at comforting her through the storm."_ Hikaru.

"How dare you!" Tamaki exclaimed into the phone. Haruhi giggled. "Haruhi! How could you laugh when they're being so mean to me?"

And as far as Haruhi was concerned, let the thunder come. If it meant that she was with her boys, it was worth it.

Haruhi sighed, relaxing into Tamaki's sighed. "Don't worry, guys," she assured her friends on the other line, "Tamaki is keeping me safe."

2/24/17


End file.
